The DNA-binding domain of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae CYP1(HAP1) transcription factor possesses two zinc ions which are complexed in a zinc cluster.

Various fragments of the N-terminal, DNA-binding domain of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae transcriptional activator CYP1(HAP1) have been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The corresponding polypeptides have been analysed biochemically and we have undertaken a more extensive physical study of a fragment consisting of amino acids 49-126 [CYP1(49-126)]. We show that this CYP1(49-126) peptide requires zinc or cadmium in the growth medium in order to maintain a stable structure. A method to purify CYP1(49-126) is presented. We demonstrate that the purified CYP1(49-126) fragment contains two zinc ions/fragment or two cadmium ions/fragment, which are necessary for DNA binding. 113Cd one-dimensional NMR data suggest that CYP1(HAP1) has a tetrahedral coordination, and that it forms a zinc-cluster complex like GAL4.